There is a distinction between strategic air traffic flow management, the plans for which could begin up to years ahead and can be adjusted up to a few hours before the operation, and the tactical interventions of Air Traffic Controller (ATC). This dichotomy happens in part because of events with little predictability that may take place in an airspace or airport, and in part because there is lack of accurate trajectory models and standards throughout the air transportation system.
In order to promote and maintain predictability, major airports around the world control the flow of aircraft traffic in and out on the basis of slots. A slot is a time window inside which the designated flight is expected to arrive or depart. If the flight misses its slot, it waits for an opportunity window, and the waiting time for the opportunity window is highly variable and could be long. This problem is aggravated if the accuracy of air traffic predictions is low. It may thus be desirable to have a system that predicts air traffic more accurately to find a suitable opportunity window and avoid further delays.
Another source of inefficiency in the current air transportation system is the slot allocation system, which includes a seasonal planning as well as day-to-day operational adjustment. The slot allocation system is rendered inefficient by the fact that each country or region, in which the slots are made available, has its own applicable regulations and may have its own understanding of what a slot is and how slots are managed. According to current regulations, a slot belongs to an airline as long as it uses 80% of the time in the previous season. Therefore, the slot is effectively a property owned by the airline. Treating a slot as a property and the current disruption traffic management rules cause rigidities and inefficiencies in air traffic.
It may thus be desirable to have systems with advanced prediction capabilities to provide more refined and accurate allocation of the airspace and airport resources and to expedite transactions of such resources between the stakeholders. Such system may increase the net efficiency of air traffic operations.